Due to a publicity ban I can’t name the current lake I’m fishing, so I will refer it as just a Cambs Pit as per the rules of the fishery.

So were do I begin? Last year I joined the Cambs Pit were my son and a couple of good friends were already fishing. In total there are five lakes on the complex all holding a few descent fish and for some reason I decided to fish the front pit. Being around only three and a half acres in size I felt this would be a good starting point. As for stock I wasn’t to sure, all i knew was there are five fish around the mid to high thirty mark and it could be a tricky little water at the best of times. So it wasn’t going to be easy just because it’s a small water.

First couple of sessions proved just that, two 48hr sessions and not a single bleep, even though i saw fish in my swim. Talking to a few of the lads it was a bit of a choddy water and not many people seemed to be putting much bait in. With both these in mind I decided to go a different way and being able to fish Sunday nights played into my hands, as I’m lucky enough to get the lake to myself most of the time which has give me the freedom to get the bait in where I want. After a good long plumb around and watching where the fish liked to be I set about getting a bit of bait in on a few spots. Over the next couple of weeks I managed to catch my first fish. Nothing big a nice little mirror at 18lb which was great as it got me of the mark and the spots were now starting to clean up and for some reason I seemed to concentrate on one particular end of the lake. I was catching steadily although again nothing big, which got me thinking rigs. Rigwise I’m a great believer in big hooks = big fish, just my theory. Although I have converted a few people when i have shown them the rigs I use and explain why I believe in this method.

I keep things fairly simple when it comes to rigs. I always have a good old combi-rig on at least one rod and I have a couple of combi rig variations I like to use.

I am not a great fan of the chod rig personaly. I have nothing against it and I am not in any way slating it as it catches fish up and down the country. It’s just that I like to use a simple semi-stiff braid with a curved hook for my pop up fishing. I also like to use a size 4 hook for this. Why a big hook? Because I very very rarely get a hook pull.

So bait is going in steadily at around 5kg a week just boilie chopped and crushed with a bit of added liquid, all working well and steady catches. Still none of the bigger fish showed up. Frustrating to say the least, but not being one for giving up I kept plugging away as I knew it would only be a matter of time before I had a fish. I wasn’t wrong. The following Sunday early hours my left hand rod just ripped off. My first thoughts were “This does actually feel a descent fish” it fought like a demon and I have been told that a couple of the big girls fight like crazy. After around twenty minutes of what was a scary battle with it taking me in and out of the reads and into the margins a couple of times, at one point I thought it was game over. But I managed to slip the net under what was clearly a descent old mirror. After weighing it at 36lb 8oz and getting the pictures done I was very happy. I began to wonder which fish it was, so i sent a quick pic over to a good freind who confirmed I had caught the mirror known as bite mark.

A proper old Cambs scaley , and well and truly happy with this result as my tactics had paid off.

Over the next few months my fishing had dropped of a bit as I was in the middle of a house refurb and had building work going on. I only managed to get out a few times on a few day sessions.

Soon this was all behind me. It was already June and I hadn’t wet a line for nearly two months so I was gagging to get on the bank and back to where I left off. Things were different and on the Sunday nights I didn’t have the lake to myself like previous sessions. So a change of tactics meant getting down in the week to get the bait in and switching to the other end of the lake. This proved to be a key factor for me this year, as there is an area which rarely gets fished and the fish seem to love it there.

Bait was going in mid week aswell as on the monday just before I left. Around 8 to 9kg a week as the fish are loving it. I’ve also had a change of bait for this year as I was in my mate’s tackle shop when the new Mainline Hybrid came in and just thought the smell, the colour and the texture had big carp written all over it. It was that simple I decided there and then a 50/50 mix of this and the cell would be my bait for this year. So far I am enjoying what can only be described as some of the best fishing I’ve had. I’ve done around eight or nine nights since June and have been lucky enough to catch steadily on every occassion.

Not always big ones but some of these Cambs fish are simply stunning, and regardless of size I always manage a smile .

Only  twenty minutes after casting out this 28lb mirror was in the net, very happy indeed.

Then followed an hour later with this lovely mid 20 common.

Followed up half hour later while a friend called in to see me, I had a high double common. Now this is no runs water by any means. I just put this down to a red letter day.

As I was sharing my happiness on my facebook  and instagram I was getting some great words of wisdom from friends and followers and in all the excitement I said something on the lines of “All I need now is that floppy tailed common in my net”. So what was to follow proves there must really be a carp god. It was around midnight when my left hand rod slowly picked the bobbin up and burst into life. Fish number four! I’m just excited that this is happening and after around fifteen minutes I slipped the net under a descent looking common. Now I knew it had to be one of two fish, either the floppy tail or the big common. Again my good friend Stu confirmed it was indeed the floppy tail common, weighing in at 37lb 4oz. I was well and truly happy and even managed to bag another one in the morning, a mid 20 mirror. So five fish for a overnighter was a top result in my book.

The following weekend which was a bank holiday, a spell of man flu put pay to any fishing.

This previous weekend, saw me back down for another night. I knew it had been busy as I had called in wednesday night, to try and put a bit of bait in and there was three anglers on the lake, so that didn’t pan out. Sunday I spoke to a guy as he was packing up and he told me it had been busy and only a couple of fish came out. However by mid afternoon it was all mine. No one else on the lake, it couldn’t have been more perfect. I checked a couple of spots and there where signs of fish movement which was good enough. So after an hour or so messing around getting the rods out and my camp set up for the night, I made myself a brew and finally began relaxing by the waters edge watching for any signs of movement. Suddenly my left hand rod was away. This was a proper scrap and to be honest this fish was beating me up a bit and was certainly not happy to be hooked. A good scrap for around fifteen minutes and I finally see it roll on the surface. Even after all the years I’ve been fishing it’s still that same moment when you see a descent fish, you get that nervy shaking feeling and prey please don’t fall off. It didn’t and I slipped the net under what is known as the grey fish at 37lb 8oz. Thats two of the A team in two nights and three down, with only two to go. Will I do it? My confidence at the moment tells me I will.

But I dare say Mr Carp will most certainly have his say on this matter.

Paul Dennis
To be continued…